TTT 59 – Books That Have Worlds Based On Our Own

Sometimes there are days where I am completely stuck as to what to choose for a specific fill in prompt as they are provided to us by The Broke and the Bookish. This time it was a setting we had to fill in ourselves. I kept staring at my books but I could not find a spark of creativity for this Tuesday.

In the end I choose to go with books that have worlds based on our own. With this I mean that there are some books out there that have worlds that are so close to ours but there have been changes made to the history or other things so that it isn’t quite our world anymore. It is an interesting addition to (urban) fantasy. And yet I could still think of so few. Le sigh.

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Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
The world of Bartimaeus is set in our world, in England for the most part. However Stroud has changed various things about our history. For instance magic is common knowledge. And through magic being known some events in our history have changed. For instance the British Empire is in war with the American colonies.

Lockwood and Co. by Jonathan Stroud
Stroud sure likes to play with our world. Because of the problem (the ghosts) in this book the reality of our world has changed. It seems to be set in modern day London, but because of the problem you can’t quite say if it is. Children are being taught very differently now based on their talent. So while it seems like our world, things are very different.

The Others by Anne Bishop
The Others is set in our world but the history has been radically changed by the add of the Others who are more dominant over the world than we humans are. A lot of different changes have been made like different names for weekdays and places around the world. Yet humans still continued to evolve to have cars and electricity.

Discworld by Terry Pratchett
While Discworld is a fantasy world in its own and there is the different universe called Roundworld which is basically our world, Discworld is clearly a satire of our world. I think that is the biggest appeal of this series. So for that I felt it deserved a place on this list even though technically doesn’t fit with my setting theme but you can forgive me for that, right?

38 thoughts on “TTT 59 – Books That Have Worlds Based On Our Own”

I like the topic you chose, very cool! Liked Bartimaeus and love the Discworld novels! I only ever read the Black Jewels books by Anne Bishop, but ‘The Others’ sounds interesting as well!
Other novels with worlds based on our own that I can think of are the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butcher as well as the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik.

Great take on the list this week! I must admit, I had some difficulty this week too, so I had to put a rather big spin on it in the end 😉 I am starting The Others soon, because I am intrigued and I have super high expectations 🙂

Anyone can be forgiven if they are talking about Discworld 😛 I love that series. What’s you’re favourite, I’ve only read 6 so far and I’m split between Wyrd Sisters and Mort, it’s only going to get more complicated as I read on! I like the sound of the Others. I may have to check that series out.

Haha, that is good to know. 😉 I’ve only read a few, but so far I think I prefer Mort as well, though I did also really like the first Tiffany Aching book. I really need to continue on with that and the Death arc.

I’m glad I’m not the only one that occasionally draws a blank with the prompts! I’ve done the same thing a time or two. I love your topic! I’ve read the first book in the Lockwood and Co books and loved it. It’s definitely a series I want to get back to soon. The Others and Discworld are series I’ve been wanting to try and I’ve heard fantastic buzz about Stroud’s other series.

Oooh interesting way of approaching the topic. This is one of my favourite things – almost but not quite our world – and my recent loves have been Zen Cho’s Sorcerer to the Crown (for an alt historical setting) and Aliette de Bodard’s House of Shattered Wings (fallen angels in Paris).

I love Bartimaeus and Discworld. Totally think Discworld belongs on the list, as so much of it catches you off guard with how familiar it is and how it reframes reality for you. Making Money, Going Postal, and Night Watch (or Sam Vimes, to be more specific) did this for me more than the more fantastic books.

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I’m Annemieke. A Dutch book blogger who blogs in English. But I’m also a wife and mom. I prefer to read fantasy (adult and young adult) books but sometimes I deviate from that genre a little. Feel free to leave me a comment or contact me through other social media accounts. I always welcome a chat.

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